Duggar Family Delivers Relief to Tornado Disaster

5/24/2011 3:15 AM PDT

Duggar Family Delivers Relief to Tornado Disaster

The family from the TLC reality show "19 Kids & Counting" sprang into action just hours after that deadly tornado ripped through Missouri -- packing up supplies and driving through the night to join the rescue effort ... TMZ has learned.

Josh says he and 5 siblings -- John, Jana, Jill, Jessa, Joseph and Dad, Jim Bob -- decided to load up a 3 car caravan late Sunday night when they heard about the disaster in Joplin ... just one hour from their home in Arkansas.

Four of the Duggars are volunteer firefighters ... and Josh says rescue officials immediately put the family's considerable manpower to work -- assigning them to search around the devastated town for any activity -- and hand out supplies at command posts.

Josh tells us the survivors he met were most interested in recovering memories ... saying, "People in Joplin aren't looking for stuff, they're looking for their lives."